Monday, August 31, 2009

A Flower for You Giveaway

There is an amazingly cute tote stuffed full of fabric scraps up for grabs in a 200th post giveaway over at A Flower for You! Head on over and check it out! Giveaway ends tomorrow (Sept 1) evening!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

It's done! Asher's quilt

I have finished it! This one has been sitting on the floor of my sewing room aka nursery for like 2 weeks awaiting a label and a run through the washer. This was my first attempt at any sort of wonky block, and I really enjoyed it! The original plan was for 12 blocks, but I decided that was too ambitious, so I went for 9 instead. It finishes at about 50"x50", and the blocks are 12" square.

I pieced the back, another first for me, and I am really happy with it!



I also decided that a little boy's quilt should have something fun and boyish, so there is a car and a truck zooming around the sashing. My ventures into embroidery have been fun!


The car ended up looking a little odd, but it works :)



And Asher's name at the bottom. This was my very first time free motion quilting, and I had a hard time. I don't think I ever really did get the right timing on it, and I had a crying kid through the last part of it...and I definitely need to practice my stippling! If you look at the squares, it looks more like odd ameboa shapes than stippling...I used red thread, and I like the contrast it made on the blue.



Overall, a success! My husband is still baffled that I will put so much time and effort into something just to give it away. But it's really for me! I love the creative outlet, and the chance to try new things, and gifting gives me a great excuse!
Now, on to the next project!
Kirsten




Thursday, August 27, 2009

I am trying to work my way through and either find or take pictures of all the quilts I have made. This one was from earlier this year. I made this for my friend Kristin's new baby who was born in March. No, it was NOT done by the time she was born! But I think I was only a few weeks late on it :) I know this pattern has a name, but I can't think of it off the top of my head, and I am too lazy to go looking.

This was the finished top, and it's not the best of pictures, I took it with my phone as I worked so I could text it to my husband and my mom!


I embroidered the baby's name on the bottom corner block. This was my first attempt at embridery in a good 10 years, so I thought I did a pretty good job :)
(Once again, a phone picture...)


And here is the finished product in use! Julia is on the left and Zoey(on the right) is my 3 month old. Only 2 months between the two, and they are practically the same size! Such babes! (They would NOT look at the camera at the same time! Actually, Zoey wouldn't look at all...)


The fabrics were all from Joann's (This was before I discovered my LQS or quilting blogs...), and the back is solid pink. I used satin ribbon for the binding, since it feels so cool and babies like it. I probably should have quilted it, but I was 8 months pregnant when it got finished, and I didn't want to put in the effort and time, so it is just tacked at the block corners. But it's all good, now it is nice and soft and cuddly, and hopefully it will hold up! If not, Kristin, you can bring it back for repair... :)
Kirsten

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Giveaway!

Head on over to Calamity Jane's Cottage for an awesome giveaway! Fat quarters, texture magic, a pattern and more!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Disappearing 9 Patch

I just finished this disappearing 9 patch and I LOVE it! It popped into my head last Monday night as I lay in bed figuring out what I was going to take to my friend Melanie's house to work on the next day, as we had plans to cut out/work on quilts. My other WIP is for Mel's daughter, and is a pain to transport, as it is using many fabrics...I will post it when it is finally done..lots of things popping in before it now though...
Anyway, back to this one. I have been wanting to try a disappearing 9 patch for a while, and found Rachel at p.s. i quilt's, super easy tutorial (though I didn't have a charm pack on hand, so I had to cut squares). And then I remembered that I had a baby shower to go to on Saturday, so I decided hey, I could make a quick baby quilt! And I managed to get it completely done in 4 days! Definitely a record for me :)
It turned out so much better than I expected!

Yes, the picture is sideways. I didn't fix it before I loaded it, so now my vertical blinds are defying gravity...
It was a really good thing that I embroidered the baby's name on, because even with that, I was very tempted to keep it instead of gifting it!

The fabric is Candy Kisses by Sandy Gervais for Moda, and I am in love with it! I still have some, and I am sooo making another one for me! The solid is just white Kona. I really like the solid in it! Much less busy. I will still have to make another disappearing 9 patch with all prints just cause though :)



This was only my second attempt at free motion quilting, and I definitely need practice. That's why there is not a good picture of the actual quilting...
As soon as I finish another project I will post it! I have one all done except a label, so soon!
Kirsten

New Blog!

My mom and I have decided to start a blog so we can post our fun projects. However, we are both pretty bad at keepng up with such things, so we probably won't post too often! We will see how it goes :)

Kirsten